Wednesday, 17 February 2016

DRAVIDA & VESARA-TEMPLE ARC..

• Unlike the nagara temple, the dravida temple is enclosed
within a compound wall.

• The front wall has an entrance gateway in its centre, which is
known as Gopura/ Gopuram.

• The shape of the main temple tower is known as Vimana
(shikhara in nagara style).

• The vimana is like a stepped pyramid that
rise up geometrically rather than the curving shikhara of north India.

• In south India, the word Shikhara is used only for the
crowning element at the top of the temple which is usually shaped like a small
stupika or an octagonal cupola (this is equivalent to the amalaka or kalasha
of north Indian temples).

• In north Indian temples we can see images such as Mithunas
(erotic) and the river goddesses, Ganga and Yamuna guarding the temple.

• But in the Dravida style of temple architecture, instead of
these sculptures, we can see the sculptures of fierce dvarapalas or door
keepers guarding the temple.

• A large water reservoir or a temple tank enclosed in the complex
is general in south Indian temples.

• Subsidiary shrines are either incorporated within the main
temple tower, or located as a distinct, separate small shrine besides the main
temple.

• The north Indian idea of multiple shikharas rising
together as a cluster was not popular in dravida style.

• When the population and the size of the town associated with
the temple increased, it would have become necessary to make a new boundary
wall around the temple (and also associated structures).

• An example for this is the Srirangam temple at
Thiruchirapally, which has as many as seven concentric rectangular enclosure
walls, each with gopurams.

• The outermost is the newest while
the tower right in the centre housing the garbhagriha is the oldest.

• Just as the nagara architecture has subdivisions, dravida
temples also have subdivisions. These are basically of five different shapes:

1. Kuta or caturasra – square.

2. Shala or ayatasra – rectangular.

3. Gaja-prishta or vrittayata (elephant backed) –elliptic

4. Vritta – circular

5. Ashtasra – octagonal

Pallavas:

• The Pallavas were one of the ancient south Indian dynasties
that were active in Andhra region from the 2nd century onwards and moved south to settle
in Tamil Nadu.

• Although they were mostly Shaivites, several Vaishnava
shrines also survived from the reign, and there is no doubt that they were
influenced by the long Buddhist history of the Deccan.

• The early buildings of Pallavas were rock-cut;
while the later ones werestructural (structural buildings were well known to them when rock cut ones
being excavated).

• The early buildings are generally attributed to Mahendravarman
I, contemporary of Chalukya king, Pulikeshi II of Karnataka.

• Narasimhavarman I, who was also known as Mamalla, acceded the throne
around 640 CE.

• He expanded the empire and also inaugurated most of the
building work at Mahabalipuram which is known after him as Mamallapuram.

The shore
temple at Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu :

• It is a structural temple and was built during the reign of Narasimhavarman
II, also known as Rajasimha.

• The temple is facing to east towards the sea and has
three shrines – east and west to Shiva and the middle for Vishnu (Anantashayana).

• This is unusual because temples generally have a single main shrine and
not three areas of worship.

•This shows that it was probably not originally conceived like
this and different shrine may be added at different times.

• The buildings in the Deccan region are hybridized
style, which contain both elements from nagara and dravida
architectural styles and is known in some ancient texts as the Vesara style
(not all temples of Deccan are vesara type).

• The vesara style became popular after the mid 7th
century.

Chalukyas
:

1.
Ravan Phadi cave, Aihole, Karnataka:

• The Ravan Phadi cave at Aihole is an example of the
early Chalukya style which is known for its distinct sculptural style.

• One of the most important sculptures at the site is of
Nataraja, surrounded by a large depiction of saptamatrikas: three to Shiva’s
left and four to his right.

2. Lad
Khan Temple at Aihole, Karnataka:

• The temple is dedicated to Shiva and is one of the
oldest Hindu temples.

• Built in the 5th century by the Kings of the Chalukya Dynasty.

• It seems to be inspired by the wooden – roofed temples of the
hills except that it is constructed out of stone.

• The temple is named after a person named Lad Khan, who
turned this temple into his residence for a short period.

4.
Temples at Pattadakkal, Karnataka:

• There are ten temples at Pattadakkal including a
Jain temple and is a UNESCO world Heritage Site.

• A fusion of various architectural styles can be seen here.

• Out of ten temples, four are in dravida style,
four are in nagara style and one is Jain temple, while the Papanatha Temple is
built in a fusion of both nagara and Dravida styles.

• The Jain temple (Jain Narayana temple) was built by Rashtrakutas
in the 9th century .

• The Virupaksha temple at Pattadakkal is also known as
Sri-Lokeswar-Maha-Sila-Prasad, was built by Loka Mahadevi, the
Queen of the Chalukya king Vikramaditya II (733-44).

• It was probably built around 740 CE to commemorate her
husband’s victory over the Pallavas of Kanchipuram.

• It closely resembles the Kailasnath temple at Kanchipuram on
plan and elevation.

• It represents a fully developed and perfect stage of the
dravida architecture.

Rashtrakutas
:

• By about 750 CE, the early western Chalukya control of the Deccan was
taken by the Rashtrakutas.

• Their greatest achievement in architecture is the Kailasnath
Temple at Ellora.

• The Jain temple at Pattadakkal was also built by
Rashtrakutas.

Hoyasalas.

• The three main temples of Hoyasala are the temples at Belur,
Halebid and Somanathpuram.

• The most characteristic feature of these temples is that they
grow extremely complex with so many projecting angles emerging from the
previously straight forward square temple so that the plan of
these temples starts looking like a star.

• As the plan looks like a star, it is known as stellate plan.

• They are usually made out of soapstone.

Temples
at Halebid, Karnataka:

• The temple is also known as Hoyasaleswara temple.

• Built in dark schist stone by the Hoyasala king Vishnuvardhan
in 1150.

• Dedicated to Shiva as Nataraja and contains a large hall for
the mandapa to facilitate music and dance.

Vijayanagara:

• The Vijayanagara Empire, which was founded in the 14th
century, attracted a number of international travellers such
as the Italian, Nicoclo di Conti, the Portuguese Domingo Paes, Fernao Nuniz and
Duarte Barbosa and the Afghan Abd, al- Razzaq, who have left vivid accounts of
the city.